Okay.

Good evening.

Welcome everybody to the uh August 20th, 2025 regular meeting for the Parks Recreation and Tree Advisory Commission.

Can I please have roll call?

Board donor.

Here.

Stoltz.

Here.

Here.

Richard.

Here.

String.

Wallace.

Sado.

And Dick is absolutely.

Thank you.

So agenda review and supplemental reports.

We will have the approval of minutes.

We'll have a presentation from the North Bay BMX.

Alyssa Nchaka.

And then we have a handful of administrative reports, fiscal year 25, 26, and 2627.

Operating budgets and CIP projects.

And that will be followed by item 7A, which is a report by the bicycle and pedestrian pedestrian advisory commission representative Mr.

Honicky.

And then we'll move to adjournment.

Next up is item three.

This is public comment.

This is an opportunity for members of the public to comment on items that are not on the agenda.

Do we have anybody here wishing to speak on items that are not on the agenda?

Okay, seeing none.

Close the public comment.

And then we'll move to approval of minutes.

Thank you.

To the meat of the matter, a presentation by North Bay BMX.

Take it away.

There we go.

Hello?

Yeah.

Hi.

Hi, everybody.

It's good to see some of your faces that I recognize.

There are some that are new, I think, to your board.

So uh hello, my name is Alyssa Manchaka.

I am the current track operator at North Bay BMX.

Um I have been part of uh North Bay BMX since 20 uh 18 or so.

Uh 16, 17, 18, somewhere in there.

Um my son is uh he started there when he was four years old, and now he is currently twelve and a half, and we've been there ever since.

So if you're not familiar where the North Bay BMX is, it is out at Kennedy Park.

We are located at the very back part of the park, so just past the uh playground, the ball fields, the skate park, and we are just there at the very rear part of the park.

Um, I do want to just start with just saying thank you for hearing us.

Um the last time that I sat here at this podium, I had a whole big presentation about the homeless encampment that was just outside of our facility, and I can't thank you enough for making the changes that were necessary to get that uh moved away from our facility.

Um, and quite frankly, away from our beautiful park there um at Kennedy Park.

We are so really grateful.

We had many, many um, many calls with uh the police, with the county, with the city, with um anyone you could possibly imagine to make changes there, and we really are truly appreciative of um the action that was taken.

So I want to start with that.

Um moving into um what we're about.

Um we are a uh sanctioned facility.

We are sanctioned with USA BMX.

We are a nonprofit organization.

And we are open to the public just one day a week, and that is on Saturdays.

That is for our community track time, which is open to public.

We offer free bikes, we offer free helmets.

It's just come out, get familiar with the track, jump on a bike with your kid, with yourself, with your family, come see us, come check us out.

But outside of that, our sanctioned races that we do hold to our USA BMX members.

We do that twice a week.

We do that on Thursdays, we do that on Saturdays, Thursday evenings, and Saturday mornings.

So with that being said, we run really strong programming.

We also have, in addition to that, our beginners league.

As I said, my son started at four.

He started in the beginners league.

And that is run by most of you know and have seen Donnie Robinson here.

He is our hometown hero, I guess essentially, a Olympic bronze medalist.

He was in the very first.

The 2008 Olympics was the very first Olympics that BMX was in the Olympics, and he came home with a bronze medal.

So you're looking at his wife sitting right here.

That's his wife Tiffany, and sitting next to her is Andrea Fleming.

They are on the our board of directors as well.

And they will be also carrying the torch because I am actually going to be stepping away very soon.

So you're looking at two of our members that are going to be pulling, I guess, essentially leading North Beta Greater Heights.

So I just want to give a couple of facts that really kind of highlights the success of the programming that we provide here in Napa.

And 2024 was a very, very strong year for us outside of COVID.

COVID was a very strong year simply because nobody could do anything other than ride a bike, right?

So there we were in one of our best years.

2024 rivaled that, which was pretty pretty amazing.

We were in 2024, we ranked second in the West Coast out of 14 tracks in the West Coast in the region.

We finished seven out of 114, and in the country, we finished 23 out of 315.

To date, right now in 2025, we are still currently ranked number two.

It's very hard for us to get to that number one spot simply because we fall behind Oak Creek, which is in Roseville, and they are obviously a very bigger metropolitan area.

So we have ways that we're we're considering to try to beat them out, but um that's a secret.

We can't give away our secrets.

Moving into the region, we are currently ranked at number six in the region, um, out of 108, and we are now number 16 out of 290 tracks in the country.

So that's that's pretty amazing.

Um, once again, we are just trending in a direction of um maybe surpassing some of last year's numbers.

Um we have uh last year.

Um we're very on par with an average of 80 racers, um average count, and right now we are at a uh 55 single point races, where last year uh we finished with 68 races.

So again, trending on the same uh trajectory, but hoping to surpass that.

Um we did have some great highlights this year of our state race qualifier.

We do have that annually.

Uh we did that on July 12th, and um once again we did surpass our two 2024 numbers.

We started um in 2024 for our state qualifier.

We had 506 riders.

This year we had 556, so that's a that's a good jump.

Uh also with our Bob Warnecke race in 2024, we had 11 racers, and in 2025, 132.

So both races that weekend significantly gave us a uh increase, which is always a good thing.

You always want to go up, so we are doing that.

Um, in addition, we do have um events like our bike-a-thon.

Um our bike-a-thon um is something that we do every year, and the bike-a-thon um is something that allows our community to really kind of get involved.

It's not just for our um USA BMX members, it can be anybody who wants to participate.

Um we haven't yet had anybody else outside of our BMX racers participate, but hey, everybody's welcome.

Uh but in 2020 5, just in the spring, we did raise nearly uh $20,000 on that event in itself.

To date, since we have been doing the event, we've raised over 140,000 just with our bike-a-thon alone.

So that's one of our biggest contributions to how we fund all the things that we do at our truck.

Um we also have last year in 2024, we hosted a big event for the community, and that did attract others outside of our USA BMX member families, and that was a Dio de los Muertos event.

Um that was something that we opened up.

We did um there at the Elks Club, and we had uh just around 100 attendees.

Um I think that uh and that event again, it it ended up raising uh just a little over 20,000.

And again, we were um all these things that we do, we're currently um consistently doing, always raising funds to better improve our facility.

That is, I think I talked about this last time that I was here.

We're in Napa Valley, right?

We should have an Apple Valley looking track, an Apple Valley run track, right?

I mean, we have everything here at the highest level, we want to do that too.

So that is something that we feel very strongly about when we put our, you know, foot feet forward is to how can we always keep raising the bar?

Keep raising the standard and keep surpassing that standard.

Um other events like our Halloween race uh where we do a little pumpkin race down the hill, the pumpkins start behind the gate, we drop the gate, the pumpkins roll, and then that becomes a fun thing for the kids to do.

Um always a nice draw.

We find little games that we do.

We have an ugly sweater race, um, we bring Santa Claus out.

Um he loves to attend our BMX races.

Um, and then um, you know, just throughout the year, we just do small little um sponsorship opportunities as well as um different little fundraising raffles.

Um we did some great improvements in 2025.

We did do a full track rebuild minus our turns, which are asphalt turns.

So when I'm talking about all the ways that we are trying to raise money, these are the reasons why.

We try to do a track rebuild every two to three years.

Um we were due for one, and we did that uh May into the middle of June.

And that uh basically, so all the straights, right?

So all the obstacles were rebuilt.

And one thing about our track, and um for those of you that have not been out there, um, BMX has been known to be a sport that's raced on dirt, right?

We don't do that here.

Um why are we able to have as many races as we have?

Because of the slurry that we put on top of the dirt.

Uh so that actually gives a more durable surface.

It's very much more weather-resistant.

So in the rains that we get here in Northern California, it actually allows us to race more than not, which is something that then also we had to do with our track rebuild.

So there was the obstacles being built, um the dirt uh compacting, and then the slurry layer layers uh being put on.

You want that to continue to build up throughout the year to make it more and more durable, um, especially with the rains coming up, we're gonna continue to do that, um, add more and more layers to keep it as durable as possible.

Um, we of course uh we continue to just um do some landscaping, uh grading and gravel on the infield to keep dust down.

Um we've got a family play area that we're actually um we we started um last year, and now we're kind of expanding on that a little bit more with our league families.

There's lots of little siblings that are around when we have our racers, there's always the siblings around.

So this allows them to have play structure just to kind of go and um, you know, go go go entertain themselves um when they don't want to be entertained watching their siblings race.

Um so that is um some of the great improvements of 2025, some future projects that we're looking at um is uh maybe laying some asphalt um into the entryway, um, as well as maybe into the infield a bit.

Um again, um we have a lot of dust out there it's very dry a big portion of the year but also it's muddy part of the year so um it will allow us for a cleaner facility so that's something that we are exploring um we would love to have just the addition of viewing decks around some of our turns uh to allow families a spot to actually go um outside of where we have already just a little bit more um cleaner uh viewing decks um shade structures that's always something that's very important um for um the facility that we do during the state race however um something that we'd like to look into for a more permanent structure um and then uh we had a beautiful announcers tower built um just a couple years ago um we will be looking to hopefully do that for the scorers um as well um so um some goals that we have we want to continue to grow the sport rider and family retention increasing sponsorships introducing no new program for toddlers um so we are starting to implement more of something for balance bike uh programming that's also something that Donnie Robinson is um actually kicked off pretty much I think this year and then maybe incorporating some for special needs um and then I know um I know the brown haired one that's Andrea I know she's gonna push to exploring hosting a national um here um at our track so um for those of you that are not familiar with that means we have our top tier level riders um the ones that are racing very competitively who travel around the country and race um nationals right and those are held um all across the country um and basically you're competing for a plate so um they only give 20 plates out to um your your age group and that's uh not just your proficiency that's your overall age group so um it's it's a very um glorified plate um and that is something that we've talked about wanting to host uh not something that we have but it is something that um you may see come across at some point where we will need lots of city support so if you see it we hope that you will vote yay and give that support um so I do just want to talk just a little bit more also about the league program because that is something that really um allows our track to thrive but it also allows again just how do people discover BMX right so I talked about the community track time that is something that we offer just to the public on the daily our beginners league again um that's where my child started that's where Andrea started she has now two kids that are actually getting ready to start the next season which is starting this Sunday but we do offer that beginners program uh four times a year.

We also offer summer camp for beginners also and then of course our advanced riders have that um opportunity as well so um moving into just to give you a little history on those numbers because I'm just full of them at the moment um our largest yearly participation next to the COVID year was last year we had over 600 participants in part of League of 2024 and that's pretty amazing.

In 2025 we're already at 427 participants to date when we have over 125 riders currently enrolled in this next season that's starting on Sunday and what that is it's five weeks of coaching that Donnie does with his junior coaches and some that are more of advanced coaches that basically it's it's two hours of instruction and as well as racing so these kids get to really immerse themselves in the sport while also getting the the fundamentals of the sport.

So I like to equate it as like the T ball right of BMX so the T ball to baseball this is like the beginners league to BMX and you know, Donnie uh founded this.

He founded this program in twenty sixteen.

Yes so um we are very, very proud to have our track as home to this founded uh program that's been adopted at many, many tracks across the country and the world.

Um so it's pretty cool that um we've got the the the founder here at our track.

Um so uh with that being said, I think I've said everything I needed to at the moment.

Thank you very much.

Great presentation.

Um any comments or questions from the commission?

Just a just a quick one.

Um you mentioned at the top, of course, the removal of the homeless encampment has certainly made a difference down there.

I'm just curious, has it to your knowledge resulted in reduced security events?

Uh you know, obviously there were safety concerns with kids.

I'm I'm wondering if there's any way to sort of measure the impact of that change.

Thank you for asking.

Um there were many things that we were affected by.

Um we were affected by a lot of vandalism.

Um we were affected by a lot of trespassing, um, and uh, you know, attempted break-ins, attempted theft.

Um there were children that were um accosted.

There were families that were accosted, there was break-ins into the vehicles.

Since they've been moved, thankfully, we are not seeing any of that.

I mean, I can't tell you how many times that I had to be on the phone with security or police in the middle of the night.

It feels really good that I can go to sleep and not have to wake up in the middle of the night and then them ask me to be out at the track at 3 30 in the morning.

Um that's really nice.

So um we have now a really amazing um security system because it forced us to have to put many, many cameras on.

And now we're all like, who's at the track?

Who's at the track?

And we're like, oh my gosh, it's just a cat, you know, it's just someone feeding the cats.

That's really nice.

Instead of saying, Oh, here we go again, you know what's gonna happen next.

So now really the only thing that we're facing, and it's it's been minimal, um, is maybe just kids hopping the fence and jumping on the on the track on their skateboards, but we've not had any issues.

Every once in a while, there's still the collector of the garbage.

Um, but he was always very innocent.

So um, but it's been amazing.

So really I thank you.

Yeah, I had a comment.

Yeah, yeah.

Um Alicia, thanks for uh congratulations on all your successes.

Thank you.

It's a nice story to tell.

I probably asked you this question last time here, but at my age, I need to be reminded.

Okay, so what provisions you have at the track on any given day that you're running for medical service?

It's a long way to the queen.

I'm just wondering.

Sure.

Um we actually have many, many family members that are medics, uh, either they're EMTs or they're doctors or nurses or uh firemen or uh police officers, so um, and actually it's it's very um often that they are at the track, so that is great.

Um for our state race in in general, obviously that's a bigger race.

That's something that we have uh more um riders at, and definitely the more opportunity for um injury.

Uh we actually had four medics on site that day.

Um we did end up having to call the ambulance to come in for one of our riders, um, who amazingly enough uh within 36 hours was fine.

Um, you know, he had to stay off the bike for a couple weeks, but um other than that, it it that was really it.

So um we do have on site though, um we're working with getting um Do you know where that stands?

Yeah, do you know where it works at stands at the moment?

Okay, yeah.

Getting an AED on on site, actually.

Um and then we do have that um I forget what it's called.

That thing that we used when the kids um choked.

I forget what it's called, but we have this mach s so a child actually choked on the property one time, and the parent had this piece of equipment in the car, um, ran and and got it and helped.

It was a little child, like a little infant or something that was there.

Um we now have two of those on site just to have.

Um so um that that's we're we always have 911 at you know our fingertips on the phone, but thankfully we haven't had to use it.

Okay, sound like you got it.

You don't have an ambulance chasing the kids around with it.

We do not, no, no, no, we do not.

But um, but like I said, with our state race, something that's so big and so grand, we're we're definitely equipped for that.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Tell me about this plate.

The NAG plate?

Okay, it could be on the plate.

It's I you want one, don't you?

You raced when you were younger, didn't you say?

Did you say no?

You didn't, okay.

But you've been out to the track, yeah.

Okay.

Um, so the NAG plate, right?

The coveted nag plate.

Well, so um every November um Thanksgiving weekend, the grand nationals occurs.

Um, and that is the greatest race on earth, right?

So there's two races that happen that weekend.

There is the race of champions, which is basically an invitation-only event, and that's for all the riders that received a state plate.

Um, so hence our state qualifier, right?

You're competing for this state plate where they give a max of 10 plates out, or the top 10% of people in your um in your uh uh age of proficiency.

So that would be for the race of champions, and that's even more of a coveted because they only give one plate for that, and it's a red number one.

And everybody wants that, it's the hardest plate to get, right?

Um the NAG plate, um, national age group, um, that is where you will go around and compete at nationals, and then you get you get points, right?

So you just want to tally up those points.

Um, obviously, depending on where you're ranked, um, your points will be higher.

Um, depending on your proficiency, your points will be higher.

Um, and then also you get what's called rider points, so how many riders um you're competing to.

Um, so for instance, um, I'm just gonna pat my son's uh back at the moment.

We were just actually at a national in Canada.

Um he went in ranked 24th in his age group.

Um he won all weekend, so won three different races, um, and he moved up from 24 to 15.

So now he's in the top 20, right?

So now he's in the running for a plate.

Um it can fall pretty easily though.

You know, you got people who are doing more nationals than you are, and they're there, you know.

So there's a strategy, I feel like you you do try to chase a little bit.

Um, but at the same time, you know, this I'm just gonna be honest about my personal situation.

This year we've pulled back a lot, and we're trying to put the fun back in it for them because um just like anything, my husband equates it to the golf game.

Your heads gets in the way a little too much, and his head's in the way.

He's 12 and his head's in the way.

So we're trying to bring the fund back for him.

Um, but then you have something that you're competing for a national plate, right?

Which we actually do have uh a few of our riders who have a national plate, and that's not just your age group, that's overall um every BMX or of every age and every proficiency that you rank.

So um, we also just had uh a couple few of our riders go to the world championships in Denmark um in Copenhagen, and um one of our our female riders, she actually came back with a world number two plate.

So that's pretty amazing.

And she has been racing at our track since she was I think 12.

So um she's now 20.

She's 20, right?

Oh.

Thank you.

Yeah, yeah.

Any other comments, questions?

Okay.

Well, uh, thank you so much for providing such a valuable community resource.

I really appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you all.

Leave it on.

Sure, okay.

Thanks.

Okay.

Uh next on the agenda is item 6A.

Uh, this is fiscal year 25-26 and 26-27 operating budgets and CIP.

Good evening, Brianna Brandt Parks and Recreation Director.

Sorry to transition you from that fund into budget.

Um, but it is a new fiscal year for the city, as you all know.

Uh, the city's fiscal year kicks off July 1, and the city has a brand new um two-year budget that I wanted to just provide you a very brief overview of.

A little reminder of the process.

Uh, the city embarked upon this back in January when city council set their six focus areas for the upcoming budget cycle, followed by an April 28th city council workshop where they talked about some of their priorities in each one of these focus areas, which is information that that fed the budget, and then um we had a public hearing on June 3rd, and ultimately city council adopted the final budget on June 17th, so now we know what the approved uh expenditures and projected revenues are for the next two years.

So this year's budget that we're in right now, year one, just the overall magnitude of the budget, it's a 403.9 million dollar budget.

You see the general fund makes up the largest percentage.

That is also where most of the funding from for parks and recreation comes out of.

Also, I wanted to call your attention to the capital project funds because as you know, we've been doing a lot of work across our parks and recreation facilities.

Similar pie graph for year two of the budget, known as the 26-27 year budget, just shy of 400 million.

I wanted to call out something new this year.

This is the first full year where we are seeing the additional sales tax revenue thanks to the voters and measure G.

So this graph shows what our typical sales tax is, and then the dark green reflects the addition of Measure G.

So you can see hugely impactful to this revenue source for the city.

Just taking a closer look specifically at those Measure G expenditures.

This graph shows the different program areas that have projects that are funded by Measure G.

The dark blue, I know it's a little small to see.

The dark blue is streets and sidewalks, which we know is a big important piece to the community when we spoke to them about the sales tax measure, followed by the dark red, which is parks and recreation.

So a lot of a lot of programs being funded with this new revenue source.

Here's just a snapshot of our department budget, so parks and recreation, a $13 million expenditure budget just over in the current fiscal year, and then just under $12 million in expenditures scheduled for next fiscal year.

And you can see the way that breaks down between our admin overhead costs, admins pretty much myself and Allie and Elijah, and then parks is Jeff's kind of side of the house, and recreation and public art are the programs that Katrina oversees.

And then here's the corresponding revenue projections, a little over 2.5, just under 3 million each year, setting the department's cost recovery percentage at just a little over 20% in each year.

So some of the new things that are included in this budget that I wanted to highlight for you, there was an additional $250,000 allocation for parks and community space landscaping.

Jeff's starting to look at some priority park spaces and some right-aways.

We'll be hopefully retiring some landscaping that's well beyond its service life and replacing it with something new.

The recreation division received an additional two hundred and forty thousand dollar restoration.

Again, this is our next phase of work in trying to resume some of the programming that was lost from the COVID years.

Additionally, $150,000 went to the July 4th budget, so that the drone show is now funded as part of our baseline every year.

We retired one of our rec supervisor positions and traded that in for two coordinator positions just to give us a little more depth and in folks out in the field to help oversee programs.

And then we have one limited-term management analyst, and that is a really critical position for us that we have not started recruiting for yet, hopefully next month, but trying to bring in support for Allie in the magnitude and number of parks projects she has got her her hands in right now.

Two other things that are just one-time funding.

So these the first bullet points were ongoing, but these last two are just one-time only funding.

One is for the community survey, which is something we have underway right now.

We are working on a controlled statistically valid survey, representative of the community seeing what kinds of priorities and preferences and needs we have around parks and recreation.

Following that portion, we're going to do a community-wide survey and a community-wide meeting to help us, you know, we we know a lot of the things that the community's asking for.

We hear hear about them on a regular basis, but we don't want to miss the opportunity to take a pause and really make sure our understanding aligns with the community's desires for additional enhancements in our parks.

And as you all know, you will be participating in a leadership alignment workshop at our next commission meeting all around this same this same subject area.

And then lastly, uh we have $85,000 in funding in year two.

So this will be in next year's budget to start to take a look at the South Jefferson property.

We'll likely be doing some very preliminary analysis and some look at some critical uh environmental nuances of that property.

So those are some of our exciting things.

Uh then I want to transition over to our capital improvement program, which is also adopted as part of the budget.

And here is just where you see our capital dollars being programmed across different program areas.

The largest being around streets and traffic safety, the next water, so looking at our utilities department, and as you drive around town, you know they've been replacing a lot of key infrastructure, and you've probably all seen the pipes going in, and then the road work happening on top of that.

So that's why those two areas are largely reflected.

Um, and then you see, I guess parks would be the third, the third biggest category in capital projects.

And here are some of our approved capital projects over the next two fiscal years.

Um the very first line item, right now we're keeping it very broad around recreational opportunities, but we do know that uh city council is currently in conversations with the school district about the potential acquisition of the harvest the vacant harvest middle school property, which would be an opportunity site, and if not there, certainly elsewhere in our park system.

We know there are a lot of gaps.

There are a lot of things that most communities have that we don't have here in Napa.

And we want to start that conversation and hopefully that will the will shape into some exciting projects and programs that will better serve the changing changing needs of the NAPA community around recreation in the coming years.

We have some early uh funding for park shade structures, so we're prioritizing a couple areas.

That's one of the things we heard loud and clear from the community in the last playground survey we did is how how important shade is.

And we've seen that in planting additional trees and priority areas, and also we're gonna be purchasing some commercial shade structures.

Designing, you can't just buy them and plop them in, it's not that easy.

Actually, designing, I wish it was, huh, Allie.

So designing some shade structures for some of our key areas, and then we have phase two of our playground program, as you know from our conditions assessment.

We have some serious um disrepair at some of our playgrounds, and so these are really critical safety upgrades trying to replace equipment out where it's most necessary where we've seen existing equipment just reach the end of their useful service life.

So the phase three playgrounds will be looking at some of those designs here tonight.

Then we have a significant project at Las Flores Community Center repairs and basically we're upgrading that facility to meet modern-day ADA requirements, and that will hopefully start here in the next couple months.

We've actually started to move out of the Las Flores building here this month, so that project is coming coming at us rather quickly.

We have Lake Park and Laurel Park improvements and Klamath.

Those are all related to pathway improvements and improving accessibility around the park.

And then we have two placeholders for park um park restrooms.

Uh council has approved three new uh restrooms over the next two fiscal years.

So this year we're gonna work on design, and then hopefully next year we'll be in construction.

And those sites include replacing the portable um, the porta potties that are at Westwood Hills Park and Century Oaks Park, and then replacing the restroom structure at Fuller Park.

So once we get the new Fuller Park playable art um structure in, we plan to um upgrade that restroom building that will better serve that site and meet some of the needs that we've been hearing from the community.

And then lastly, um we are we have a placeholder.

This is not enough to build a splash pad or necessarily fully design one, but we're gonna be fleshing out some um potential locations and the associated costs of what it would look like to start to integrate water play into our park network.

Another thing we know we heard loud and clear from folks as we have gone through these recent surveys.

And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions you have.

And if there's no questions, I have a video that we put together for parks and recreation month that just kind of highlights some of these projects.

Yeah, I had a question, Brianna.

Yes.

What is a splash pad?

Slipping slides.

So a splash pad, also known as a spray ground, um, is uh a play area that incorporates water play.

So often it shoots out of either the ground or it shoots out of a water feature, and they can be very simple with just a couple shooting water features.

Kids love to play in water.

You know, you know this.

To some highly sophisticated ones, you know, think great wolf lodge and big dumping buckets of water and um they they can be very grandiose in scale and very small in scale.

But is that for just one playground or is that all playgrounds that have them are?

Uh no, they are it's a it's a special category of play areas um so specific to um to water play and it's um it's lacking in our current system, but I think it's it's resonating specifically deep with our community because we don't really have any public pools or aquatics facilities.

So it'd be great to have both, but I think a splash pad would be kind of the bare minimum that we'd be looking to do.

It'd be great to also have a pool, but we do hope to deliver on a splash pad in the coming years.

I was happy to see that in there too.

When when I was talking to folks three years ago when I was looking at applying for the commission that came up repeatedly.

Yeah.

So that was pretty cool and and uh we've heard so much about shade.

Uh so it's nice to see that in there too.

Yeah.

Any other comments?

Questions?

Um I was curious about this.

In the um budget for the two-year cycle, um, there's something called park quadrant funds.

Yes.

Uh what are those and why are they being reduced so much for the 26-27 year?

Good question.

So park quadrant funds are is the methodology the city has to collect fees from developers when things are built here in Napa.

Some projects choose to provide parkland or park space or a playground as part of their project, and if they don't, um they pay in loo fees to the city so that we can further enhance our our park system.

Our methodology for collecting it here is a little complicated.

It's specific to four different quadrants.

We collect different money for acquisition and different money for development.

Um, but the reason you see that that swing in this fiscal year is because we have applied park quad funds and we we have roughly 12 to 13 million in quad funds we keep aside for a project that qualifies, but we have uh roughly 1.2 million going towards the Los Flores project, which is why you see it hitting this fiscal year.

Um, they had to take it out of the quad funds and put it in this year's budget so that we can spend it as part of the Los Flores project.

Oh, okay, thank you.

Uh, and the other question I had um has to do with the reduction in the public art um budget budget for the twenty six twenty-seven year.

Um, um how will that impact the um programs that parks puts on?

Uh, it should not impact any of our programming.

If anything, um, the reason we don't have any new public art projects really scheduled this year or new ones to begin is because we have so many already in motion, um, from the Fuller Park project, which is uh going to start site work on Monday.

That goes in waves.

It goes in waves.

We have the Saw School Media's um project that should be going in in the next couple months.

We just have a couple really big ones, which is why we weren't committing to starting anything new this fiscal year.

Yeah.

I I have a quick question.

Yes.

You had a uh slide up on uh uh public space uh maintenance.

Uh space landscaping.

Yes.

So I assume that parks and rec has money in that uh maintenance, uh and operations uh line item for tree replacement.

Uh correct.

Or does public works have that money?

Uh that's a great question.

Um, this is new funding, right?

So we already have some money in Parks and Rec for tree work every year.

So this is new money, which we're looking to prioritize a couple different things.

And it might change, you know, every year.

We're gonna look at replacing some landscaping.

We're gonna be looking at some turf restoration, um, and we're gonna look at some early action items that come out of our urban forestry management plan.

So as you know, we're working on that.

There's gonna be a whole host of recommendations coming out of that, and this is so that we can start to chip away at those action items.

So it's it's for now, it's kind of a nice placeholder.

It is.

Okay, great.

Thanks.

Any comments or questions?

Any public comment on this item.

We're all here for the phase two.

Do you want us to do it now?

No, that's gonna be the next item, I think.

All right, roll the roll the roll the tape.

The one favorite thing is the swing.

The monkey bars.

I like coming here with my sister.

We'd like to go down the slides together.

Yeah, this is my favorite part because they have a lot of cool um things here.

Like they have the giant caught air balloon and they have this cool swing with that that's like for two people.

Going to this park is one of my favorite things to do because I get to hang out with my friends and do fun things.

How's that being shared?

We showed it to city council uh when they did the July as Parks and Rec month proclamation, but it's also been um out on both the city's social media page and the parks and rec social media page and linked in our newsletter as well.

It's good to let folks see where the tax dollars are going and you know, tangible assets and benefits.

Quick question just related to that.

When these projects are being developed, do we put signage or anything on them that say funded by Measure G?

We do now.

Um Measure G funding is new, but um yeah, I was driving down Jefferson Street and I saw they had the little A-frames right out in the street, like funded by Measure G.

Yeah, that's that's an important thing responsibility we have is to tell the story of all the great ways it's being used.

Thank you.

Any other comments or questions?

I just had one quick one.

Which uh you had mentioned there was 240k or so to reinstate some programs that um had to be put to put aside for COVID.

Uh I do uh we've increased uh capacity at a lot of swim lessons.

We're doing new fall programming because we had a wait list over the summer, so we rented the school pool to do a fall session, expanded senior center programming, and um because this is phase two of our restoration, the first phase we brought back a lot of like high profile programs, and this is bringing more back some of the administrative support to oversee those programs, keeping our um like Las Flores Community Center getting back to having weekend and evening hours and that that sort of stuff.

And then the bathroom at Fuller Park, um that old tile structure.

Does that have any cultural or historic significance that needs to be retained or is it?

Not that I'm aware of, but that's a interesting, there is an interesting configuration to that restroom.

That's kind of cool.

Next time, if you haven't just stood there to appreciate it before we get rid of it, you all should take a like there's like a big sink trough, and it's interesting.

Yeah.

Okay, great.

Um are we ready for the next item?

Good evening, commissioners.

Allie Koenig, Parks Project Manager.

Um, pleased to provide an update on the playground and amenity a program project, one of the projects that was listed as part of the CIP projects approved for the upcoming uh two year fiscal year budget.

Um so as part of this presentation, we'll be walking through the designs.

Um, but I did want to provide a bit of background on the program and uh its early initiation.

Uh this program is an implementation step of the parks conditioned assessment that we've reviewed over the last couple years, which was our comprehensive effort to understand all of the the conditions of all of our parks, which is robust for a community of our size.

Um that told us a lot of information about key assets in our community and it's ripped in their replacement needs.

Um we were able to inventory our 33 playgrounds in our city's park system.

Our playgrounds, um, they make up about 60% of our city parks.

Many of them are in our residential neighborhoods and were built as part of subdivisions when um as NAPO was growing.

Um, and given that, many of them are aging at the same time.

Um so we uh had identified that about 30% of our playgrounds were in need of replacement, and about 40% of our park amenities, meaning our benches or our picnic tables surrounding our playgrounds and within our parks, are also in need of replacement.

So this has given us a clear roadmap of where we need to go from here and where we begin our efforts.

So that kicked off phase one, which we developed with the commission over the last couple years.

This was our first step in improving six park sites, which were, as you saw in the video, with some of the before and after photos.

That project wrapped up in the spring of this year.

And with our Placer AI, our visitation software, we've been able to see the level of impact that those projects have had at each site.

We've seen a 30% increase in visits year over year, which is significant and is great to see being one of our community parks, and we'll we continue to see more people out in our parks and enjoying our park system.

So that phase also taught us a lot about interests for the design of our playgrounds.

We've now identified three additional parks to address in phase two of this program.

These three parks are Esther Dever, Monarch, and Solomon Park.

All three of these playgrounds were built in the early 2000s and are coming up on the 25 plus year mark, which is when you are typically replacing playgrounds.

And each of these parks are playgrounds are in small residential areas of our park system.

In that first phase, we completed a public survey on the design.

We received quite a bit of feedback, which was great to see, over 230 responses.

That gave us a lot of information on the different types of equipment that folks were interested in seeing that was folded into our updated phase one that was implemented, and as we saw in the last slide, we are seeing that return and increase in folks coming out to our parks.

So a lot of great information that has helped us take this next step into phase two.

So I'll walk through each park, a little bit about the size of the playground area and the playground designs that we've started to develop based on feedback that we have received.

So the first one is Esther Dever Park, located off of East Avenue.

It's our small neighborhood park.

This is a playground replacement, it's about a 4,500 square foot play area.

The key equipment that we will that you'll see over these next few slides, a large scale overhead shade, which it would be the largest shade feature out of any of our parks to date.

Multiple spinners and slides, a variety of and as well as a variety of swings that include one of the playground manufacturer, one of their new features, it's a hammock swing, which is both inclusive and large enough for multiple users.

So we'll provide a close-up of that.

So here's another look angle at this design.

As I mentioned, this really great large overhead shade structure.

This Esther Dever, in particular, does not have any natural shade surrounding the play area, so it's particularly important to incorporate that into the design.

We have both a 5 to 12 and a 2 to 5 structure, as well as ground level spinners, both group and individual, and then three swing bays, which is pretty large.

Swings typically take up a lot of space in playgrounds.

So they're only able to be installed if there is enough space.

So we're excited to be able to include three different types.

Here's another angle.

Here's a close-up of two key features in this design.

As I mentioned, there's this new piece of equipment from the manufacturer.

But it's designed like a hammock, and it has a transfer area all around it and can be used individually or with groups.

It's called the Cube.

Well, it looks small, as you can see from the image, there's quite a few users that can play on it.

Moving on to Monarch Park, again, also one of our small neighborhood parks.

This is a playground replacement about the same size as Esther Deaver.

Key equipment, this park being called Monarch Park, it's often nicknamed Butterfly Park, and so we wanted to play on that a bit with the design.

So you'll see some Monarch Butterfly thematic elements throughout the design, overhead shade, a balance and agility course, and then again, also inclusive group motion play features.

Here's uh one angle of that design.

Given the orientation of the size, we're able to implement more ground level features into this.

So as you can see, we not only have a larger structure, but we have multiple swing types, as well as some other smaller features surrounding it.

We have an inclusive multi-user CSA.

It's called the WESAW, and it's their take on a group CSAB, but it's also one of their um uh all-inclusive features because of the transferability in the seats, and there's a photo that you'll see here shortly with multiple users on it.

Um there's the agility course as you can see in the background, and then the overhead shade.

So these are the two key features for the equipment uh scene, both group features, um, multi-user or uh singular as we saw in some of the other ones.

Um but these were some exciting features from the manufacturer to incorporate some more inclusive ground level equipment, which is one of the pieces of feedback we received.

Finally, Solomon Park.

This is the smallest of them.

There's 2,000 square feet, so less more than half of the other sites.

Um given the space constraints, and so the equipment that would be suitable to replace it would be to continue having that use, but we've attempted to pack in as much play value as we can through the design given the space constraints, and so there are over 25 continuous play features, also overhead shade, and then there's some additional swings to the existing design.

Here's a close-up angle of one view.

Um, what uh is also interesting about this is the number of play panels that we've tried to incorporate into the design for this user group, which is particularly popular.

Another angle, just listing out all the variety of play panels that are seen.

And then again, some uh images of the equipment in play, multiple climbers, and again some look at the play panels that I mentioned.

So through these three designs, although they are smaller playground replacements in our park system.

We're attempting to pack in as much play value, uh different play types, different designs into the three.

And are excited to hear your feedback.

We've reached out to the residents within a 500 feet of each park to notify them of the improvements.

We are hosting this community input meeting with the commission.

We'll also have a survey that will be live for three weeks, which allows residents to look at the images.

There's more online than I had included in the slides.

So I'll give them a better view of that.

And of course, the project webpage with all the project information, and we've included it in our newsletters as well to spread the work.

So for our next steps, as I mentioned, we have our online survey.

We have a design period from there.

There's a number of site improvements that need to be done at each site to provide accessible pathway access, which isn't critical to any improvement project.

And so that's part of our project planning.

And then from there, our contracting, which would uh move us out to about a spring to summer construction window for the work, which would follow our rainy season as well.

So with that, I'd be happy to pass it back to the commission.

Before the commission gets into QA and discussion, what do you all think about first hearing from the public on this?

Okay, sounds good.

Um any members of the public wish to speak on this item.

Please proceed to the podium.

Hi, George.

Okay.

Good evening, commissioners.

I'm Raquel Hurlbett, and I'm here to address the issues of inclusive parks.

Okay, from the perspective, there we go, of an autistic child, and as an advocate for our local special needs community.

I was born and raised in Napa.

I'm a resident and a homeowner here.

I used to be a city employee, and I used to work for all the parks programs when I was a little kid, and I was a lifeguard.

So I've spent like my whole life here, and I had dreams of raising my children here, and so now I am.

Um I'm a mother of two autistic children, and I'm a co-founder of Beyond the Label, which is a local nonprofit for autism awareness, acceptance, and inclusion.

While my kids have enjoyed the recent updates to the parks, these parks are not yet fully inclusive.

And just a few short years ago, these parks would have been somewhere my children and I would not have been able to visit and enjoy.

While some of the parks have improved and some inclusive features have been added, many children in our community still cannot safely visit, access or play at any of our local parks.

And I'm here to advocate advocate for a truly inclusive playground.

Inclusive playgrounds, remove the physical and social barriers to exclusion.

At their core, inclusive playgrounds are designed to go beyond accessibility.

While it's imperative for playgrounds to be accessible for users with mobility issues by providing wheelchair-friendly walkways, surfacing ramps and decks, truly inclusive playgrounds are so much more than that.

They ensure play equipment is accessible, comfortable, and usable, as well as stimulating, challenging, and thrilling for all users.

Inclusive playgrounds do this by incorporating a variety of play elements throughout the playground, so children of all abilities can connect through a meet medium that they all understand, which is play.

Here are some statistics I'd like you to hear and consider.

Autism spectrum disorder.

Currently, the cases are one in 31 children in the United States, and in California, it's one in 22.

And those numbers are just increasing.

In the United States, there are estimated 121,000 wheelchair users under the age of 15.

That's an old number from 2002, but the most updated I could find.

And the larger total of approximately 5.5 million wheelchair users in the US.

That's from 2024.

Your school district enrollment is down, but NBUSD special education is up.

Our nonprofit Beyond the Label held an autism acceptance walk this past April.

We had 600 people register and approximately 800 people attend.

We would have loved to have it at a park, but there was no safe park that we could have it at because we needed a fencing for the children who would run away.

So we had it at just in Sienna.

Since then we've had an inclusive play date, and we weren't able to do it in Napa.

We had to do it in Yauntville, because that was the closest park that was accessible to kids with modality issues.

It's blinking.

Okay, like it's counting down at me.

The closest all-inclusive playground to Napa is in Vaccaville.

And some of the features that I would like to see included in at least one of the upcoming park upgrades are rubber foam floors instead of bark.

As we saw, there's a lot of inclusive equipment that is going in, but having bark makes it so that kids who are in wheelchairs can't access that the equipment that it was meant for.

They can't even get to it.

And I personally have been at parks with friends and families, and I've had to witness a child in a wheelchair watch their siblings play, and that child wants to play too.

And they want to be included too.

Play structures and equipment that are accessible to all bodies and abilities.

So individuals with mobility issues and our persons in wheelchairs, an entirely fenced-in playground, ideally with double gates, but I would take a single gate.

Children on the spectrum elope, which means run away.

And for years I could not go to a playground with my two children unless there were two adults.

It just wasn't safe for us.

When my son would take off, I couldn't leave my daughter on the playground.

And we live by Monarch Park, which is a pretty slow street, but it's a big enough park that he could escape.

So we really just couldn't be out in our community and joining the parks alone, and in a communication board.

So there's a lot of individuals who are minimally speaking, delayed speaking.

My son lost all of his language at some point.

And what's useful is they're called communication boards, and they have pictures, so kids can point to things if they don't have the language.

And it helps them to communicate with their peers and other kids on the playground.

Natalie will talk about her son uses a device, and he may not be able to use that while he's climbing.

So having a board there would help him to be able to communicate.

Play is both fun and essential for a child's development.

Through play, children learn to understand the world around them.

They develop social skills, learn to communicate with others, and discover how to explore, experiment, and challenge themselves.

Play teaches important life lessons like cause and effect, risk assessment, and decision making.

It helps children learn to share, improve their strength and coordination, and nurture their imagination and creativity.

It's my hope that you take into consideration ways to make at least one of our parks accessible to all abilities during phase two of the park playground retrofit.

I sent this to Allie earlier today, and she was able to respond to me.

And it was in her presentation, too, that there's 33 parks in the city, and you know, safety upgrades needed to be made, and I'd just like to say that there are kids who have never been able to access our parks, and it would be nice if there was one safe park for all children.

We're not asking for all of them.

I don't need anything major, but if we can have rubber matting and a fence, just a basic at one park, it would make the park accessible and safe for all of the children in our community.

Thank you.

Should have maybe worn my high heels.

Sorry.

Good evening.

My name is Natalie Luna, and I'm here also to discuss the need of an inclusion playground here in our community.

I was born and raised here in the valley.

I am a co-founder of Beyond the Label, a nonprofit that advocates for acceptance and inclusion in for the autism community.

And I am mother of three young boys, all of whom are autistic.

I can remember when my twin sons were first born and learned how to walk, actually, and we were taking them to the park was never an enjoyable experience.

They would run in opposite directions, both putting things in their mouth, and I struggled to keep them both safe.

There are fences around a lot of the some of the parks, but there's also open, open ways with no gates.

And so and they find those automatically.

So fast forward to a few years later, we added another addition of young son to our family, and my twins became much, much faster.

And we've received autism diagnosis, and going to the park by myself with my three children is now impossible.

Every family should have the ability to go and enjoy their community park, a free place where children can play and create opportunities, friendships, and build imagination.

A place where everyone is welcome, everyone is included, and most importantly, everyone is safe.

I stand here today for to advocate for a playground that consists of the rubber and foam flooring, not bark, that's wheelchair accessible along with the playground equipment to support individuals with mobility differences, a playground that is fully enclosed with fencing and a gate that shuts to keep individuals that run or elope, like both of my sons safe.

A communication board, like uh Raquel talked about for individuals that are non-speaking.

So one of my sons is non-speaking, he uses a device where he pushes the buttons and it speaks for him.

Um a communication board is on a larger scale.

It has the pictures and words with it, so children, adults can go up and touch those and people can read and see what they are either requesting or or um wanting to share.

And then also a restroom with a changing table that is large enough for individuals that um are not toilet trained and need support to be changed.

Families like mine are often forced to go to other communities in search of inclusive playgrounds.

We often go to the park in Vacaville.

Um, it's called playground.

Play for all.

If you haven't seen it, I highly suggest looking it up.

It's phenomenal.

Um, and it's wonderful to see kids of all abilities uh using all of the equipment and families in a more relaxed uh state.

And um, uh, let's see.

So uh please help us create a place here in our own community where all individuals are able to enjoy the fun and beauty of a playground.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I did weird heels, sorry.

After work.

Uh my name is Catherine Baresi, I'm a resident here of Napa, and I'm here uh to address the commission not only on behalf of parents and youth with uh special health needs, but also as a clinician.

I'm a registered nurse.

Um, and I don't want it to be lost on this committee.

The public health that you address when you create inclusive spaces, not just for neurodivergent children, but actually for for normies, as we lovingly refer to them.

These spaces, um, to quote something Raquel brought up.

Um, in NBUSD, 60% of the students enrolled are on a free uh federal public public lunches.

These spaces provide optimal opportunities for kids to practice sensory motor development, to practice speech language, to practice um engagement.

It also lowers stress for families when they have free and safe public access for their kids.

So by extension, understand that what you're building are really healthy, sustainable children that will grow and learn and thrive in these communities.

Their brothers and sisters and playmates also become stewards in citizenships, citizenships around uh citizens, sorry, to advocate for um inclusivity within their communities when they have opportunities to play alongside children and youth with special needs.

There's amazing studies out of Arizona that when you create spaces for shared opportunity for interaction, what happens for both individuals in those spaces?

Raquel talked about how she came back to Napa or is here in Napa raising her family out of choice.

My husband and I have been here since 2003, and we want to do the same.

And as we watch children and families leave, and as we watch our communities grow older, we are not investing in the people that we need to stay, grow, work, pay taxes, and remain in this community.

Having safe, fare, free, equitable parks is a huge, huge part of that reason why families stay or leave.

The last thing I just want to uh talk about in my ask is really what the others mentioned.

Uh tar or or rubber based mats.

I know that there are others that have beliefs or there's science out there about some fumes or chemicals that may be in them.

Um, but I would encourage this committee to do a deep deep dive and look at it.

Um I'd also encourage this committee to look at not just what is best from a development or cost standpoint, but again, that other cost of return when we talk about the therapies and interactions that students and families gain by having these spaces.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello.

My name is Sarah Courtney.

I am a lifelong resident of Napa and a mother of two.

I also work closely with uh Beyond the Label.

Um, and I'm here today to share my hopes uh for Napa Napa's Park and Playground Retrofit project.

And also, yeah, okay.

I was born and raised in Napa and have lived here all my life.

I am a mother of two children, ages 26 and five.

Um, and having my children more than 20 years apart has provided me with a unique perspective on the recreational offerings of the parks and playgrounds here in Napa over the years.

And I'd first like to thank the city of Napa for all the recent updates to the parks around town.

They are beautiful and fun, and I can see that thought and care went into their designs.

My concern, however, is that Napa still does not have a fully inclusive playground.

My five-year-old Finley is autistic, and many of our trips to the park over the years have consisted of me uh chasing and hovering over him.

Finley elopes, and as Napa doesn't have a fully fenced in park for years, he didn't have the opportunity to play freely and safely without me only an arm's length away.

And as a mother, I never got the chance to sit back and watch my sweet boy play and explore without profound fear for his safety.

Eloping is a common trait in autistic individuals, and one e uh one in 22 children in California have an autism diagnosis.

Finley has not been the only child to be impacted by a lack of fencing in our parks and playgrounds.

I'm also advocating for the full for a fully accessible playground for all children.

A great example is the Play for All Park in Vaccaville.

Um I have taken Finley there several times, and it truly is incredible.

Um, some key feature excuse me.

Some key features that I would like to see included in at least one park in Napa are play structures and equipment that are accessible to all bodies and abilities, including those in wheelchairs, walkers, and crutches, a rubber foam floor, um, an entirely fenced-in playground, and a communication board.

Um I truly can't emphasize enough what a wonderful feeling it is to see my child be able to play and explore without fearing for his safety.

Um, as that's our already been mentioned, but a fully inclusive park truly will uh benefit everybody.

Um, some children will have maybe for the first time the ability to play in a park with their disabled siblings.

All kids can attend that birthday party at the park.

Non-speakers and minimal speakers will have the opportunity to communicate with new friends they meet.

Also, and importantly, um, access to children with disabilities for typically developing children is wildly important and beneficial.

Um, inclusion is how we march toward a kinder, more empathetic, brighter future for all.

So, yes, we are advocating for our own children, excuse me, but every person in our community will reap the reward of inclusion.

So I sincerely, so I sincerely ask you.

I'll consider that like an applause.

Um I sincerely ask you to consider these requests for phase two of the park playground retrofit.

Thank you.

Thank you.

My name is Jennifer Cann, and when my oldest son was younger, we would sit at home bored on a Saturday and we'd say, Hey, let's go to the park.

I would put on his shoes, get him in the car, and we would go to our destination.

It was a split-second decision, and usually it ended up to be a great morning or afternoon adventure.

With my younger son, it's not that simple.

When you have a child with autism who's not only non-speaking, but also is a runner with no safety awareness, simple outings like this become almost impossible.

A trip to the park means dressing him specifically in bright colors and making sure that he is wearing a bracelet with his identific with his identifying information in case he outruns me this time.

It means taking pictures of him.

So if he does get away, I can show law enforcement exactly what he looked like that day.

It means considering if there is parking close enough to the playground and if it's an easy path, either walking with him or in a stroller.

It means wondering if there's a changing table big enough for him, since he and many others his age and older still need to use a diaper.

Changing him on the floor is not only difficult, but demeaning.

It means considering if the park is enclosed, especially if it's near a busy street, since he would not stop for a car zooming by.

It means bringing along a stroller or a wagon for safe transport to and from the car and his iPad, which is not for fun, but is a communication device in hopes that other children will want to play with him.

Sometimes thinking about that outing that was so simple with my other son now takes hours, days, and weeks of planning before we're able to execute for my younger.

While outings like this will always present some challenges, things like fences with gates, large communication boards, clear and accessible walking paths, bark-free playgrounds, and family restrooms with large changing tables would make them not only possible but significantly easier.

And this is not just for me.

We have families all over our community who talk about the magic of inclusive playgrounds in Sonoma, Solano, and Murray counties.

The answer that changes are on the way does not erase the fact that this appears to have been an afterthought for the neighborhood playgrounds that were already rebuilt or planned.

How does a parent get their wheelchair user to the inclusive swing through BARC?

Small changes to small playgrounds is just as important as big changes to big playgrounds.

And while my friends here today have asked for one playground, I encourage you to think about the families who lack transportation and their neighborhood playgrounds are their only options.

While we pride ourselves here on being the best when it comes to wine, art, food, and tourism, we are failing our local families and excluding those with exceptional needs.

Thank you.

Are there any other?

Oh, here we go.

I'm a lot taller than Jen.

Hi, I'm Lara Dooley.

I'm an educator here for NVUSD.

I'm a special education teacher for littles.

Um, and I have quite a lot of experience not only with students with autism, but also students with who use wheelchairs, who have orthopedic impairments, traumatic brain injuries, things like that.

So those are all kids.

Those are all children, they're all our children.

So with those kids in mind, I'd like to read a brief um excerpt from the Convention on the Rights of the Child from the United Nations.

This is a bit from the preamble.

It says, bearing in mind that the peoples of the United Nations have determined to promote social progress and better standards in life.

Recalling that in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations has proclaimed that childhood is entitled to special care and assistance.

Recognizing that the child for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality should grow up in a family environment in an atmosphere of happiness, love, and understanding.

So that's the preamble that brings us to Article 31, which states in full states' parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the of the child, and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.

States' parties shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life, and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational, and leisure activity.

So, I am requesting and suggesting that we make sure that our parks are fully inclusive for all children.

I do very much appreciate the parks that we've seen and the parks that are projected.

And I have a few actionable suggestions to improve these parks to be specifically more inclusive and accessible for children who have motor differences, who use wheelchairs, who may use orthopedic uh splints and things like that.

So first of all, a lot of students who use wheelchairs are susceptible to get overheated.

So I would request that we put shades over the inclusive areas.

I would also encourage that we have ramps to multiple areas of the park, especially those play panels we looked at.

Very few of those were actually ground level.

If we had ramps, students in wheelchairs could access access more of them.

Jen talked about ample cutouts and actual paths of travel.

I'm gonna get bleeped in a second.

I swear I'm not swearing.

Um we would really encourage a better path of travel from the curb to the accessible elements of the playground.

We all know this.

So yes, we can think that the rubber may be having fumes or things like that that we would want to study further.

But I would also like to say that bark is it's not accessible at all.

Try pushing a wheelchair or even a stroller through bark, you won't be able to do it.

And then also it's just gross.

So the the foam and the rubber actually is an improvement for all children, not just children in mobility devices.

So keeping all of those children in mind that the UN has designated has have not just the opportunity or things like that, but have the right to full inclusive happiness and play.

I ask you to um make some additional um accommodations for all children.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Do we have any other?

Oh, here we go.

Thanks for giving us the opportunity to talk.

My name is Westabo.

I've lived here in Napa for a long time since 79, and I'm particularly interested in the Esther Dever Park.

Is that design done?

Is that said and done, or is there still opportunity to is this the place to address that, or is that later in surveys and whatnot here?

So I live just around the corner from there, and I would say that's my home park.

And we also have Alta Heights Elementary School, which has play structures for kids, and we also have the tot lot that's right there with the play structure for kids.

And I'd love to see some fitness equipment there.

Um, you know, that other ages can use because it seems like all the equipment that's being invested in here in town kind of ages out for 12 years old.

Like what are the kids doing after 12?

They're having to go all the way to Kennedy for skate park, or what are adults doing?

Adults are having to go for a walk.

Not a whole lot of other options.

I know Moran and San Francisco both have incredible outdoor high-quality fitness equipment that you know people of all ages can use, and I just love to see consideration for parks being for all of us.

Some of us are aging out here in the valley, but I know the the parks are a great spot for kids, but the rest of us love to go there too.

So, anyways, thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you.

Do we have any other uh public comments on this item?

So just to kind of I guess uh manage expectations from the perspective of the commission, we're not in a decision making capacity on this particular item.

Um, I know that staff is well aware of the comments that have been submitted as well as the ones just heard now.

Um, are you in a position to speak to the comments that have been provided both today verbally and those in writing?

Yes, I think um I'd like to take that opportunity.

Maybe start with the last and easiest one first on fitness equipment.

Um, we do have some at the senior center campus and going in at Lake Park.

Yes, um the the outdoor pieces of equipment through the park.

Um, second, whenever we get to just feedback and community input in general, please know that like we value it immensely.

We value the engagement and you know we really like to take the opportunity to look at things through all the different lenses.

And I think you'll see that a lot of the decisions we're making in this round were based on feedback from last round, and so that's kind of how we we carry the cycle forward.

We also know we're missing a lot of things here in Napa that the community wants in general, and we hear about it regularly, whether whether it's like fully inclusive space, which I know we hear are hearing tonight, but you know, we also hear things like water play or splash pads and things like nature-based play.

I mean, there are a lot of gaps in our existing system, and we we recognize recognize that.

Um there's always more that can be done.

You know, we do as much as we can do, and we try to do a little more, and and there is still more that can definitely be done beyond that.

But I I do want to take a minute to talk about Fuller Park, because a lot of the feedback we've heard from the community is being embedded into that project, and the reason for that is that it's a community park with 33 parks.

Um it's hard for us when you know we have limited resources to do that big of an investment in every neighborhood park.

We wish we could, but for now we're at least trying to start with a community serving parks.

That is our only rubberized play surface site prep begins on Monday at that park, and I think we're spending close to it's half a million four hundred and fifty thousand.

I think just for the surface alone at that park, which is why we had to plan and budget accordingly just to be able to do that there.

It does have a fence, it is not fully fenced.

We do have a couple of gaps at Fuller Park.

Um, it's not in the design to close those gaps, but to me that's that's something that we should be able to look at, even if it's done down the down the road or after the playground's done, we should be able to look at whether we can close that gap because I think the only fully enclosed playground we have is Las Flores.

Uh yes, it's located at Las Flores Community Center.

Um so again, we wish we had all these things in one spot at this point.

We don't we're we're working towards that.

Another thing um I think we heard uh really loud from the community last time was the restroom, which is why we're doing that at Fuller Fuller Park and why we've prioritized that as one of the three restrooms that we're doing to have fully multiple fully ADA stalls and adult changing rooms or changing tables, I should say.

Yeah, so um I don't know, Allie.

I don't want to cover everything, but if you have some slides you want to share.

I did want to um because I I did a I thank you all for submitting your comments in advance.

I appreciate that, and it's helpful to to hear that.

Um so I did want to pull up a few images to demonstrate our um initiatives that are in the works and are coming up much faster than phase two being phase two is just in its really design stages, and um we took a lot of uh time to think through the inclusive features at Fuller Park.

Uh, we went through a collaborative process with individuals with from the special needs community, um, and that was uh really helpful as we develop that design.

So I did just want to pull up a few images to um show what's coming very soon as well as uh the restroom updates as well.

Sorry, this keeps skipping on me.

Uh this is an overhead shot of the design.

Uh this the playground site here is almost 10,000 square feet.

Uh it's one of our largest play areas in our park system.

Um we and with that we've been able to incorporate a wide range of uh features that allow all abilities to play here.

Um here is another uh a closer view, um, and then here is um a much closer view to look at uh these features that we have incorporated in the design, um, and they are distributed throughout the design to um spread out the uses and provide that play value all over.

Um, uh, what was uh mentioned quite a few times during that design process was this merry-go-round feature um which not only allows multiple users um but also um users in mobility devices.

Uh there's also other spinners which have low transfer stations um which are all inclusive and we have there's only one swing on this uh image, but there are multiple as well, so we we have more space to also incorporate that.

Additionally, some musical elements um which are are really fun as um fun to incorporate.

So through that process we looked at the public health and social benefits of the entire design.

We did that with the manufacturer.

Um and the goal of that effort was to look at the the scale, um, both physically, emotionally, uh, and we were able to go through the checklist and identify as many play features that would check all those boxes.

Um so we were excited to see that through the design.

Um so that was a big push that we did uh through that project being at one of our community parks where we have more parking, um, more space, um, more opportunities for families to gather.

Um, as well as the restroom project, that was also a really unique um piece of feedback that we uh value through the process was the restroom is is not conducive and um and it it's in need of replacement um uh really for for everyone and particularly for the families that are coming to the Fuller Park playground to be able to enjoy all those play features and so as part of that design uh we will be considering the adequate size that will allow for these adult ch adult size changing tables.

Um and we're able to even get specific uh manufacturers and feedback on actual changing tables that um folks from um the community that have seen out there that work and function well.

So we're excited to get that design process started uh with this project as well.

So I just wanted to to just take that moment and and highlight some of those efforts.

I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Any questions from the commission?

Yeah, a couple.

Okay.

Um thank you all so much for spending some time here to advocate.

Um it means a lot, and every time the public speaks to us, I know I personally learn a great deal.

Um since the commission is being asked for input on these particular designs, I have a couple of things, but Brianna stole my thunder.

I thought gate, no, apologize.

I I was thinking that Fuller Park might gate it.

And I know we're pretty advanced on that, but if it's a modification um that could be accommodated, I think that is a that's sort of a slam dog.

Um because it's it is intended to be one of our if not our most uh you know, yes, inclusive, but also it's a signature park for us.

And so I think it's a huge miss if some of our residents feel like it's inclusive.

It doesn't include them.

So I would suggest that evaluating that possibility would be um I'd put that top of the list.

I'm curious if it's possible um seeing that these elements are these these playground equipment is all on bark.

Is it possible to provide paths to inclusive elements?

Or at least not paved paths, but I'm wondering if it's possible to sort of provide access to the inclusive elements.

Um again, that's feedback that I'm providing on the design, and I I don't know if that's a possibility.

Um well I appreciated the comment that was received as far as placement goes, and that's an important consideration in the design.

Right.

So if we're looking at, for example, on Esther Dever, this, you know, large inclusive swing, you know, if we can make sure that the people for uh you know the children for which that element is designed could actually access it or have better access to it.

I that would be one of my suggestions.

Um and you know what a fan I am of shade.

So I would say uh I would say you know, whatever we can do to provide shade over not just inclusive elements.

I love the shade elements here.

I think they're great, but I also think that providing anything uh that could provide some additional shade specifically over these elements would be great.

Um looking ahead, you know, I'm all for adding these elements into every park as we redesign them.

But I also wonder if at some point we would consider just converting an existing park um as part of the process to just sort of designate it as our Slovakville as our play for all facility.

Um I think we could consider that on I know we're pretty far down the road for phase two stuff, but maybe that's a phase three.

Maybe that somehow shows up with our potential purchase of the harvest of the harvest uh school site.

I'm not really sure how that would work.

Um we're at this really critical point in time because we're embarking on this community survey because we're asking the community.

We we know of things that are missing in our system, but we're asking the community to to tell us what is missing in the system.

So that may be something that comes out loud and clear during the the survey and may very well rise to one of the highest priorities the community has.

Um Allie and I have both been to Play for All Park.

Um I also used to work in Redwood City who has um Magic Bridge playground down there.

Um fully inclusive, but they are incredibly costly projects.

So right, you need to just kind of weigh what the community's priorities are and what resources are and make the decision.

Um, I might suggest that we reframe that a little bit because in this case, we are building a playground that everybody can benefit from.

It's not a playground that is specific for children with special needs or exceptional needs.

I know it may look like, well, we built this for you.

No, we built it for everybody.

And so maybe there's a different way to chat about that.

Yes.

If that if that helps.

Because community feedback is gonna come back and say, Well, I want a playground for my kid.

Sure, right, but we're building a playground for all kids.

Um, and I just a random question.

Is our bark synthetic?

Is it processed to maybe remove edges or anything, or is it just shredded wood?

Go ahead, Jeff.

Hi, Jeff.

He's been so quiet tonight.

I know.

Well, he's coming up later.

Yeah, I'm next.

Um, no, shredded wood, but it has to meet an ASTM standard.

So um it's it's all natural.

I'm I'm just curious about it because when we built a dog park in Pleasanton, it was sort of a processed wood chip that um was not intended to, you know, get in in the dog's paws.

You wouldn't so the for the playground specific, it is intended for fall attenuation, so it has a cushion factor.

So if a child falls off, you know, whatever height that is.

So every playground has a certain height that is the critical fall height, and then the bark itself or the rubber or whatever surface you're using is built off of that fall height.

Uh so the the bark itself is a special blend that has intended to provide some give to it rather than something.

Okay.

Correct.

Thank you again.

Any other comments or questions?

Just a qu a quick one.

Uh are you intending to also look at uh some of the existing uh vegetation in some of the parks that you're uh your your teeing up for phase two, like uh I noticed in Esther Dever uh there's lots of room for trees and that would solve the sh uh in the in ten years, the shade issue.

But I noticed that those uh uh sequoias that uh ended up uh those uh seven or eight that ended up in Springwood Park, uh already are taking off.

So uh and that wouldn't make a huge difference.

Uh it's already making some difference.

So, and since it's called Monarch Park, why not put milkweed in the borders, right?

So any any landscape uh enhancements that are relatively easy to implement would be uh uh you might want to consider.

And I did just want to clarify too, the renderings do not show the existing shade canopy.

So um there is there is existing shade at these parks.

They're just not in the renderings, but yes, we will we're also considering that as part of the designs.

And I just I just add Rainer, the um when we're looking at these, whether it's playgrounds or the Klamath Park, we're we're collaborating and taking that opportunity, every chance we have to add different elements, um, whether it's landscaping or trees or other things that we can add to these projects, so they're more whole park improvements, if you would, than maybe just that one specific.

So Springwood Park's a great example.

We did a volunteer event, we removed lawn, planted trees, did some sheet mulching, um separate of the project.

So we we try to put those together everywhere we can.

Yeah, that's what it appeared like too.

Thanks for reinforcing that.

Commissioner Stoltz.

Just wanted to thank uh Raquel and Natalie and Sarah and Jennifer and Lord, thanks for coming tonight.

And you know, it's almost eight o'clock and you could be home uh, you know, watching uh binge watching whatever you're binge watching.

But uh boy, I was just thinking, you know, myself and a couple of kids twenty years ago running around in parks and how challenging that is and they they're not autistic, just they're running around and and so I have such empathy for what you're talking about, what you're dealing with, and and I would hope that we can get to a place where we could have uh um a play for all I think uh park like they do in Vacaville here.

It's good to hear that some of the things that were brought up recently have been incorporated into Fuller and I also would support, you know, if we could uh see that the Fuller Park is uh fully fully fenced in, I think that would be helpful.

Um but uh and I I like to Joe had a lot of great comments with which I agree.

Thanks.

Yeah, I had a uh I just want to back up what Rick's uh stated, fully support your ideas about that.

Um nothing I heard from you today was unreasonable.

Nothing.

Uh and if Vacaville could have it, Napa could have it.

You know, so and I can feel your and hear your passion for what you're trying to tell us today.

We thank you for that.

Okay, so I hope we can get some things, you know, that will accommodate you.

Um as a former teacher, I have a lot of autistic kids in a classroom and I watched them struggle on the playground.

And schools have nothing to accommodate.

And uh they were shut out and a lot of runners, which was scary, so I I feel for you.

Thank you for coming and sharing.

Um I just have a couple remarks.

Um also would like to thank uh Wes for participating in public comment as well.

Um I want to acknowledge staff's efforts um on this topic.

Um I think it's important to recognize um we all have limitations, budgetary priorities and whatnot, and there have been significant improvements um on this topic, and I know that there's more to come.

And so I think it's appropriate to thank staff and their efforts um and to the extent that the city council has provided funding um for these amenities um should also be recognized.

We can always do better.

Um but this is um it's a matter of funding and priorities.

It's not due to a lack of desire thinking, ideas or wants.

Um it just has to be weighed uh within the context of so many other things.

Um that's not to say that we can't do better and and and I'm sure we can and will continue to.

So I I think it's just important to point out that uh reality if you will.

Um in terms of the surveying going forward, um haven't seen it obviously.

Um I don't know if anybody on uh on the dice has seen it and I don't know if we need to I would just encourage um based on some of the comments we heard today um about accessibility um proximity to those um in need of an inclusive park um we wouldn't stop just at asking about that but maybe we would ask questions in a way that get at maybe the most desirable location um where these types of improvements could be made that's to the benefit of those that need the most so maybe um a super thoughtful way of asking questions uh to make sure if we are fortunate enough to be given the resources to put towards these amenities we're doing it in a way that we get the biggest bang for our buck um so those are my comments but again I want to thank you guys for um all the work you've done to improve on this area and I also want to thank members of the public for taking the time to come speak today it's it's it's important so thank you.

One point I wanted to clarify is we do have two surveys going on right now and there's also one going on at the senior center so um we do have a survey very specific to these three playgrounds that's asking more playground related questions and then the one you're going to be engaging with our consultant next month is more of a grandiose you know bird's eye view of the entire recreation system and what we might need more of or to do better at or provide the community.

So both would be this actually what we're hearing to hear what we're hearing here tonight would fit appropriately in both surveys so make sure you're providing that and there'll be a community wide meeting on September 3rd also related to the needs here in NAPA around recreation.

Okay thank you very much and thank you everybody got the code words anybody else need a two minute comfort break um mr gettings you ready okay take it away your call we still have four okay we'll clue Rex in as he gets back.

Well good evening commission um tonight I bring forward an update to the Master Street tree list um very timely on this topic this is this is kind of one of our um earliest action items that's coming out of the the data that we got from Davy Resource Group and the urban forestry management plan.

As you heard from Brianna not just our department but other departments throughout the city have a ton of work going on measure G has created an influx so we see a lot of street work going on as well so this this list is is very timely and very important so before you tonight is to um review staff's recommendations on some changes to our master street tree list um and as well as some additions based on some recommendations from our consultants as well as review from our arborist on staff so just a little background on what is the master street tree list um this list helps guide residents uh capital improvement projects um as well as developments when selecting new trees uh new street trees which are trees between curb and sidewalk it also can extend beyond providing just residents that are looking for a tree in their private space uh with a good selection of species that would work well here in the valley um this list also is provided to property owners that are seeking a new tree to replace a tree that was removed, or just adding an additional street tree in front of their their property um and then lastly, this is a list provided to development projects.

So if there's a development going on um and they're going to be installing new street trees, this list is provided to that developer so that they can select uh the right species trees for the right space.

And so the it's broken down into four categories, and what it intends to do is take the largest spaces to allow the trees that will be the largest that will mature the largest, and then on down the way to smaller trees.

It also takes into account things like overhead power lines.

Really, what this is intended to do is to allow these newly planted trees to reach their maximum size and live out their full lifespan in that area that's planted, so that we're not planting too large of trees and too small of spaces.

So a little breakdown broken out into four categories.

Category one being what we consider large trees.

That's going to be six foot wide planter strips or six by six cutouts.

Your category two is your medium trees.

This is again without power lines.

So five to six foot cutouts.

Category three is your medium trees that will fit under power lines.

So that's going to be your spaces between three and five feet.

And in most, I would say somewhere in the high percentages, 80 or so of the work that we do here at the city, we're dealing with this category three planter areas.

So this is probably the most common category we have.

And then lastly, category four, your small trees, those are allowed under power lines, minimum size of two to three for the cutouts.

So the master street tree list was last updated in 2019.

So it's been about six years.

Prior to that, it was 2013.

So we're on a five-six year cycle on go ahead and updating this list.

So as you may remember from the update on the urban forestry management plan, Davey Resource Group in their scope included a review of our current master street tree list and as well as their recommendations.

The goal of that review was to include tree species that are well adapted and long-lived, maximize tree biomass, giving each sites spatial constraints, and then avoid over reliance on any one species, and increase the overall resilience and sustainability of the urban forest.

So one area in particular that helped guide this was the species diversity list, and that has been provided to you tonight.

What this is is this this gives after Davy Resource Group was able to do all their canopy studying as well as all their individual tree analysis and data, they were able to break down all of our species and give us kind of a printout of our percentage of what species trees we have.

So based on the species diversity data, the widely accepted rule is that no single species should not represent greater than 10% of our urban forestry.

No genus should represent greater than 20%, and no family should represent greater than 40%.

So there are two species in particular that NAPA that trigger those percentages.

So that one does exceed, and then the other one is the Coast Live Oak.

Now the Coast Live Oak is not on our master street tree list, but it is a tree we still do plant in our parks as well.

So again, tonight the action is for the commission to consider and approve staff's staff's recommendations for modifications to the master street tree list.

These recommendations are as follow, and in your packet, to remove one sycamore yarwood sycamore tree, one red oak and one burr oak from the category one.

This is done because of the sycamore tree is redundant, it has through two other sycamore trees already in category one.

The red and burr oak are uh species that were not recommended by DRG.

There's a pretty lack of interest of those two species and then they're also not readily available from the wholesale provider that we have um in category two we're not looking to remove any rather based on Davy Resource Group's recommendation is to move the little leaf Linden from a category one to a category two tree uh based on its size and needs for space and then lastly to remove the red choke cherry from category three this was not a species recommended by Davy Resource Group also has lack of interest and lack of availability.

So with that I'll move on to the additions.

So first off we're looking to add one species to the category one which is again the largest that's the Diador cedar um popular tree a fast growing tree a tree that does well in this valley um and so that's one that that we would like to see added and then to our category two we would like to add the Brisbane box.

This is a tree that became highly recommended from Davy Resource Group.

And then moving on to category three we would like to add the Tartarian maple which funny enough was on our street tree list a number of years ago removed because of availability and then recommended again by Davy Resource Group and we verified that that species was available at our provider.

And then lastly our category four are small trees um we would like to add the star magnolia of all the additions one thing that was important to a lot of people and that we hear from the community is that the size of the tree is really small so we talked to Davy's resource group about adding species that do grow fast.

So with the exception of the star magnolia which is a pretty common the small trees are going to grow slower.

The other ones are either moderate or fast growing trees so with that I'm happy to answer any questions any of the commissioners have any comments for Jeff full of questions today.

Correct.

And one of them produces the fruit only that fruit when it's squashed it has a terrible terrible smell is that right?

Absolutely correct we only plant one going to keep are you going to keep planting that one or does it you need both of them to make one or the other we plant the ginkgo we only plant the male species so we check that when we when we get the inventory and the female is the one that drops the the fruit correct always the ladies that are bad okay.

And I just wanted to any other comments is a deodorant cedar the same as an incense cedar they are different in the same family but they are different.

And the incense seed incense cedars are not on the list no does the when a when a tree is on the list does that restrict the owner's um ability to remove the tree it does not no it's definitely taken into consideration when a species is being replaced of course if there's say a diodore cedar in a space that doesn't fit a deodorant cedar um if they're looking to replace and they they would have to choose from the category based on the size of the plant area that they have thank you.

Any other comments or questions I just appreciate all the work that went into it is a really interesting memo to read and and the rationale that goes behind it and it's just something I would always been interested in as a citizen and now at the past few years on this commission, we drive around town and wonder why they plant certain things somewhere, and sometimes you wonder why the heck did they ever plant this tree which is carved like a field goal, something now to accommodate a you know a power line that's they might not have all this information back then.

So anyway, good job, thank you.

Woody, you're gonna come up and say something?

Sure.

No, I don't mind.

Um I have a few things to say.

So first thing I wanted to stress is I think it'd be very advisable to all of the trees that we are on the street tree list, or all uh deciduous, and don't the diodes either would be an evergreen, so we don't have a lot of evergreens.

Especially for somebody excuse me, uh with a category one, which is very rare for a six by six, but if they have a western aspect property, it would provide shade for them in the summer.

It does do a little different in the winter, but I strongly suggest that, and then to Jeff's point, um, you know, they used to plant uh crate muddles like crazy.

It was like buy two, get three free, and it almost became a monoculture.

So we've gotten that under control.

And to your uh Rainer, your question about the planting of the shade trees up in Esterdiever, it's complicated because it's all rock up there, and so we've tried multiple multiple times a different species to go up there and try to plant, and it just doesn't take off.

So, like a root needs to be able to grow, and certain like oak will will somewhat do pretty well as you can see them growing out of the natural mountainside and in nature, but it's hard for them to grow up there.

So we've definitely tried um, yeah, I think I had some more things to say, but then I got up here and I got nervous.

I'm sorry, I forgot all my thoughts.

Maybe you'll get a coast live oak to grow in that rock.

Throw a stick of dynamite in there.

We tried the coast live oak, we tried the valley oak and s and so on and so forth like that, and then back to and just to touch on Jeff's pre uh coming back to me, touching on Jeff's presentation about how we delegate all these things.

So back in the day when Napa was developing the community, developers whoever planted the trees had no forward thinking of what species they would plant within the planter box, so through trial and error over the time, so it would cause it would require like public works coming in replacing the sidewalk like a liquid amber or the Mendesto Ash or and the Raywood ash, and they plant them in such a small planting box.

So we've done a dedoagence through the years and years.

I've been here almost fourteen years, and I've seen significant progress into the trees that we've selected so that within the area that we are allotted that those trees do not disturb, or I shouldn't say just should they greatly reduce the disruption of the public hardscape.

I should say that it's not it's not a guarantee, but they definitely do it.

And then within that, we've also made guidelines like they we used to put a tree like within two feet of a water box or something or a sewer.

Now we've made a guideline to where it has to be ten feet.

So we're trying to we're always evolving.

We're always trying to look forward to different places, different ways to be able to do this.

That's it.

Great, thank you.

Thanks.

Um, I just have a few questions.

Um how does uh I guess the aesthetics um or sense of place um come into play when selecting trees.

I'm I'm for lack of better example.

Um, thinking of the downtown area with the redwoods and to stick a bunch of crepe myrtles within there would run counter to that character of that neighborhood.

Are we looking are we taking that into consideration when selecting trees?

Yeah, it we we definitely are.

It's I think the answer to your question is more of a site-specific answer because it depends on the area you're talking about, but I think an example of that would be the Waverly Street project that we did.

Yeah.

Um all the same species trees, almost all the same species trees in there that all cause the same issues.

Now we have a standing um kind of rule that we follow, which is those trees that go in front of those residents and businesses, we reach out to them.

We we get their input on, we want their buy-in as we as I wrote in the staff report.

We want their buy-in because we need their support to keep those young trees alive.

Because we plant several hundred a year and we try to water all the ones that we can, but we really need that staff reports or that support from the residents.

So when we went into Waverly, we heard we did a funny enough, we did a backyard community meeting with with that group.

And what we heard from them was that they wanted the largest tree possible.

They wanted as many trees as they could get.

And through that discussion, we also explained to them that putting the same species there was not the right decision in case there was a pest or some other reason why they didn't take and grow.

So we took our street tree list and we kind of shrunk it down to four different trees and really tried to get the folks to kind of oscillate those so they could maintain the aesthetics on the street where it had some uniformity, but also get you know diversity in those species.

So in that situation, yes, we're definitely taking that into account.

And then when we have developments that we're looking at, we have the opportunity to kind of drive that that decision more than than we usually do.

And redwood's not on the list because it it gets too big and tears stuff up.

Unfortunately, yeah.

That's that's why we don't see that on the list.

I wouldn't preclude you from planting redwoods.

In our parks, no.

What about the street trees that are what is that?

Franklin.

Franklin.

Yeah.

We're not doing redwoods down there anymore.

We are not doing redwoods.

Redwoods are not on our category one.

Unfortunately, they just get too large for those those street spaces.

Is there a that doesn't mean that we wouldn't support them in other places because they do very well.

Yeah.

Outside of the curb and better.

Sacramento has 10 foot wide sidewalk strips.

So they planned better.

Yeah.

Um, and then along the lines of aesthetics or not necessarily aesthetics, but taken into other consideration, other benefits, I suppose, of trees, is the capacity or ability of a given tree species to sequester carbon, taken into consideration to help offset emissions, or it's not a really much variation in the larger trees to for it to really make a difference.

Yeah, so the list that was provided from Davy had far more breakouts than obviously I've given you tonight.

So we they not only did they go through the tree's ability to survive well here, its amount of water that it uses, its growth rate.

They also went into pests and what pests they're susceptible to.

Um they did not break out the GHG offset or benefit factors by the species, but the um information that we have through our canopy cover work does do that, but it's not necessarily specific to a certain species, it's more so a factor on the size of the tree.

Right.

Um and then just one last note.

Um size and quantity, I should say.

On category three, the red troke was eliminated, but it's still on category four.

Was there a reason why it was kept on not struck on there?

That's a different one.

I believe that's just a typo.

Good catch.

Um that's all I have.

Well, awesome.

Thank you.

Was there a request for us to make a recommendation to move this forward or anything?

Yeah, the request tonight is to support staff's recommendations for these alterations to our master street tree list.

Um once that's done, we'll update our website, we'll update public works with our new updated master street tree list.

I'd like to move that we support the staff uh recommendations for changes to the master street tree list.

With the one correction of the typo on the red choke cherry, whatever uh category it should fall into.

So it should be a three or four.

Should be removed.

Should be removed entirely.

Okay.

And can I make a slight amendment to that motion to uh if it's not already in the procedural document in your standard uh practices to uh update the street tree list uh as needed more frequently than every five to seven years?

Yeah, absolutely.

Let's say at a minimum every five years uh climate changes faster than that.

And we're now in a different climate zone.

If you haven't noticed that yet, USDA put us in zone nine on the valley floor now, nine B.

We can grow Jack Aranda and avocado on the valley floor now.

And this is we do have more information from Davy resource group.

So these are not the obviously the only trees that were recommended, but what we have to take into consideration heavily is the availability.

So you see trees that are most available, you know, and I'm glad to do that.

So sh can I just clarify then that the motion is for us to ex approve the staff recommendations for modifications to the tree list and update the list at a minimum of every five years?

Point of order, because Rex made the motion, so are you okay with that change?

Why don't we make them two separate motions?

Sure.

So second on the first initial motion.

I'll second.

I have questions on the other suggestion.

Um let's vote.

Can we vote on the first one?

Oh yeah, all in favor say I.

Uh Jeffrey, we just supported the staff recommendations.

I don't know what we were looking at.

Don't leave the room.

I thought you were upset.

I didn't hear the motion.

All right, that's fine.

We got a quorum.

Um the second one, I'm I'm I'm comfortable with the intent, but I just want to make sure we don't box staff in.

Um intentionally, can I the ordinance yeah gives purview to the director to update the master street tree list?

It does not define a cadence.

Um it's just our preference to bring it before you make sure you're supportive.

Um, even though we could have just, I mean, technically just updated it.

Um it's an important part of the conversation.

Anything you want to add to that?

I would just make the recommendation that we have a lot of tree information coming at us that we have never had before.

Um, and I wouldn't I wouldn't disupport five years, but I also wouldn't say that that isn't something that we aren't going to consider like Woody said and look at all the time as availability changes as we put species in the ground.

Um, so it's um not that I wouldn't support it by any means, but just just saying that it's something that is always on on our minds and with given given the amount of data that we have and the um opportunity to update our data and keep our data relevant, it's something that I think we are comfortable looking at um, you know, something that we we look at all the time as we as we review this.

So maybe you can say staff will endeavor to uh review the tree list to the extent feasible.

Is that a motion though?

I don't like it.

Why don't I uh retract that motion because I didn't know that you that the city council gave you the authority to update that um on based on your judgment.

I also wonder if this is um something that we will have continued conversations about as part of the urban forestry management plan.

Davy might have a recommendation of at what cadence we should be looking at this.

So I wouldn't want to jump in front of that thought either.

Sounds good.

I like that idea.

Yeah.

So I'll withdraw that second motion.

Okay.

We supported the staff recommendation on the master tree list as presented.

Uh with the change there's a typo on page two about the red choke cherry, which should be on neither list.

I support that motion.

Okay.

Motion passes unanimously.

We get passed.

Um thank you, Brianna, for keeping us on point.

Um so we are up for the next item, um, and this is to uh elect a representative to the bicycle and pedestrian advisory commission uh for the term expiring August 30th, 2027.

Uh Commissioner Honeke has been your representative.

Um he was uh nominated or appointed for a two-year term, which lapsed in December, and we somehow missed that.

So we wanted to provide you all the opportunity to revisit it.

I know sometimes um other people like the opportunity to serve in that role, so we wanted to make sure we got this item uh before you for consideration.

Do we have any members of the commission that have an interest in serving on this um advisory commission?

It's a non-voting roll and the meeting they meet every other month, I believe.

Second Thursday of every other month at four PM via Zoom or in the room behind us.

I'm in favor of letting Raynor continue to do it.

If Rayner still wants to do it.

Uh I I think it's time for somebody else to step up.

It it it's an interesting uh commission and uh.

Um yeah, enough said.

And there's a lot going on now, especially with much of Measure T now kicking in and uh Caltrans uh initiating uh renovation of IMOLA, and I think that includes the county also.

Uh so there's there's a lot of opportunity there, but also uh sometimes a little uh within the box thinking.

I don't want any of that.

Um, I understand that uh we might have um a few vacancies coming up.

Uh we have a few folks who end their term in September.

We know of at least one who is not planning to reapply, which means we could be having another member in the next couple months.

So if or as an interim solution, um one of the staff could attend just to make sure we stay apprised of um what's going on at BPAC, and we could reconsider this maybe in January when we change the chair vice or we'll look at chairvice chair, we could look at the in January.

In the absence of anybody, you know, volunteering, maybe our only options, and then staff can just report out as needed if needed, and then we look to attempt to fill the position again in January.

Okay, I'd be happy to fill in the gap, uh so if staff doesn't have to go to the meetings.

Uh I know you and Julie and and uh staff in public works coordinate on a regular basis anyway, but I'm happy to stay on until we have where we organized here.

I appreciate that offer, and you and I can maybe stay in communication offline and make sure one of us is represented.

Can you go over the two actions that have been requested?

For the BPAC representative.

Am I looking at an old report?

So might have nominated and then elect a chairperson and vice chairperson to serve a one-year term to the parks recreation and tree advisory commission for the calendar year of 2023.

Yeah, that's old.

That was from the last time we did.

We need a DeLorean for that.

Okay.

So we'll ignore that.

The last time we did it, we did them all at one time, so it's old language.

And so just for our vast viewing audience, just to be clear, we are deferring the election uh election of a uh member on the bicycle committee until January.

At the same time we elect a chair and vice chair.

2026.

Thank you.

Okay.

Item 6E, parks division and recreation division updates.

Given the late hour, I'll keep my uh comments very brief.

Um and I know none of them are here tonight, but I just did want to um sincerely thank our recreation team for all the hard work they did in running so many programs over the summer.

Um July 4th was very well attended, very well received by the community.

They put on yet another great event.

Our summer camp programs were full with um, I wanna say our um Camp Napa program at Las Flores capped out at 80 kids a week, and we still had wait lists of over 20 kids, so just a huge huge need in the community around summer camp and um a lot of great aquatics programs and recreation swim that they put on as well.

Uh and now we're transitioning to fall, all of our fall leagues are coming back and we are moving out of Los Flores um to get ready for that um big renovation project.

So fall preschool programs.

We've rented a location at the Grapeyard Plaza, is it called Grapeer?

Grapeyard.

We have a temporary swing space over there.

We'll we'll be running preschool um while Las Flores is under construction.

As to not impact families.

So, yeah, I had a question.

Is Austin Park pretty much on schedule?

Is it going to open?

No major problems so far.

Oh good.

It's been pretty.

It's on schedule.

Yeah.

Well, Mike, you stole my thunder on that one.

That was my quick update.

That was your update.

Um Alston is is moving along, waiting on a few key parts.

Um, just wanted to bring it to this commission.

There's some of the trail work has been done.

The trail looks amazing.

We're really happy with it.

The restroom is really coming along waiting on some key parts.

Um, we still anticipate that fall opening.

Uh, just wanted to let the commission know.

We do we are going to resurface the parking lot, so there will be some parking lot closures coming up, but we'll be putting out signs to let the community know.

Um and then lastly, really quick one.

Um we just acquired our first electric mower yesterday.

So we got it in.

It's getting its stickers and its numbers.

Um we demoed the equipment about three weeks ago and staff actually really liked it.

Unfortunately we have one place to charge it, so right now it's our only electric mower until we kind of upgrade some of our electric charging systems.

Um, but we're excited to start off with some of that equipment and and see how it goes for us.

Can I ask you to use light uh paving rather than blacktop because it just uh it mitigates the heat island effect.

Well, we will let public works now.

Okay.

Great.

Thank you for those updates.

Um next up is uh report out from Commissioner Honicky on the bicycle and pedestrian advisory commission.

Anything to report?

Uh nothing of significance uh I think uh the deputy director gave a great update at our last meeting, and uh I think uh the the grant is moving for I mean application for a grant to on the IMOLA corridor is moving ahead.

Uh but that's all I wanted to say, given the time.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

Um, unless there's other comments or questions from staff of the commission, we would I have one.

Sorry, just get this under the wire.

Uh the Napa Park and Rec Foundation was accepted in this year's Give Guide.

We last appeared in it in 2023.

We earned about six grand, and um we're gonna be reaching out to all of you for your support to help us uh generate some donations in the community.

So we're very excited to be back in the Give Guide.

Awesome.

Thanks for that update.

Any other comments or updates?

Okay, um with that we'll move to adjournment to the next regularly scheduled meeting at uh September 17th, 2025.

Thank you.